Chelsea vs Manchester United, Antonio Conte vs Jose Mourinho and the cherished chance to have the final say

For all the diplomatic words they will engage in around the game, the truest remain those from another famous spat - they will both love it if they beat them

Towards the end of last season, as Jose Mourinho’s jibes about Chelsea and their football became more and more frequent, many who know Antonio Conte were fully expecting one big swipe back. The feeling was that the Italian - no stranger to such spats back in Serie A - was merely patiently waiting for the position of maximum strength. He would maybe do it after his side had clinched the title, they thought, so he couldn’t be accused of any bitterness.

So they waited, and waited… but it never came. Other than fairly general arguments about how both Manchester United and Manchester City had much bigger squads than Chelsea so therefore a significant advantage, Conte ultimately opted against adding to the pantomime. He stayed above it. Sure, there was the pointed mention of wanting to avoid a “Mourinho season” in preseason, but there was still a subtlety to that and plausible rationale at a muted time of the year, and it was really nothing like the kind of detonation those who know him from Italy had come to expect. 

The wonder now is whether that opportunity for a position of maximum strength - of a high ground - is gone, as Chelsea host Manchester United on Sunday from lower down in the table and enduring a much more inconsistent season.